The invention is related to a pharmaceutical mineral composition which is useful for therapeutic treatment of electrolyte imbalance of biological fluids. More specifically, the composition is a mixture of wood ash particles containing mineral compounds in combination with calcium carbonate.
Mammals, in particular humans, have body compositions which are of approximately fifty to seventy weight percent aqueous media. The aqueous fluids are distributed intra and extracellularly and enable liquid transfer of nutrients, enzymes, hormones, waste products and the like. The extracellular fluids include blood, lymph fluid, gastric juice, urine, bile, perspiration, etc. which all contain inorganic electrolyte salts. Intracellular fluids also contain electrolyte salts but the kinds and proportions differ from those of the extracellular fluids owing to the semipermeability of tissue membranes and cellular function.
The inorganic ions present in such electrolyte fluids play an integral part in the proper function of physiological processes. For example, sodium and potassium are necessary for nerve and cellular function. Iron and manganese are necessary for oxidative metabolism and calcium is utilized in bone. In general, inorganic ions usually are present in most physiological processes.
An imbalance of the distribution or proportions of physiological electrolyte ions present in a biological organism will produce pathological manifestations and malconditions therein. Nervous disorders, anemia, kidney disfunction, intestinal malabsorption, heart disease, muscle wasting, osteoporosis, cirrhosis, liver megoblasteomia and other organic diseases can develop if this occurs.
Metabolic acidosis or acidification of the blood can also occur as a result of electrolyte imbalance such as increased acid content or decreased alkali content in the electrolyte fluid or as a result of electrolyte impaired renal function. Acidosis, may have its origin in such diseases as diabetic ketoacidosis, alcoholic ketoacidosis or diarrhea, all of which in part are related to electrolyte imbalance. Acidosis, in turn, is manifested symptomatically as nausea, diarrhea, abdominal ascites, cerebral vasoconstriction, headache and gastrointestinal distress.
Electrolyte imbalance can moreover produce extracellular volume retention and antidiuretic effects. This, in turn, is manifested as tissue swelling and ascites, accumulation of fluid within the peritoneal cavity. A side effect of diseases such as neoplastic disease, peritoneal inflammatory disease, portal hypertension, hepatic congestion and hypoalbuminemia also is electrolyte imbalance and ascites. These symptoms present severe distress to a patient over and above the sickness caused by the underlying disease.
It is believed, therefore, that restoration of proper extracellular electrolyte balance will alleviate substantially the foregoing symptomatic malconditions associated with many diseases, namely anemia, acidosis and ascites. Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to discover a mineral composition which will provide a selection of the ions necessary to restore extracellular electrolyte balance. It is a further object to discover a mineral composition which has a proportional distribution of ions that will enable beneficial absorption by the gut. Yet another object is discovery of a single source for a composition having the full range of mineral ions necessary as human electrolyte salts.